For most organizations, their IT environment has become a complex and sprawling landscape of endpoints, with disparate operating systems, application usage and software versions. With almost every PC, laptop, server, kiosk or point-of-sale system on the network configured differently, configuration-drift across organizations has now become a major challenge. On top of this employees expect more personalization of their technology and greater flexibility in their working practices, provisioning such as BYOD (bring your own device), CYOD (choose your own device) and COPE (corporate owned, personally enabled) are becoming the norm as is remote working. At the same time they still expect seamless remote support.

All this means that IT teams are constantly looking for tools to help them more effectively manage this and get their networks under control, while balancing the need for security against the requirement for usability.

Goverlan Reach is a remote support solution designed to provide remote IT support seamlessly even in an infrastructure comprised of a mix of PCs, Macs, servers, mobile devices, and operating systems. It also works well in an environment where employees are spread-out across offices or work remotely. The solution is comprised of three main feature sets: Enterprise Remote Control; Background Systems Management; and IT Process Automation. And we’ll look at these in more depth later.

Over the past few years, the Remote Support Software vendor landscape has seen a trend for consolidation among some its bigger names – including LogMeIn and Citrix GoTo Business,  Bomgar and Beyond Trust, as well as Connectwise and Sienna Group. This has led to less choice and higher prices for end users, and we can expect the current trend of steep remote support subscription price increases to be a constant in the remote support industry.

During this time, Goverlan has maintained it’s independence and remains well priced compared to other vendors – 50 % to 80% less expensive than Teamviewer, ManageEngine, Bomgar and LogMein. The company has a history of very moderate price increases, and has always focused on developing a rich feature set that offers more value for its users.

As remote support software continues to integrate more digital technology into its remote control, desktop management and systems management feature sets, this is providing IT departments with the ability to streamline how they operate and to take back control of the inherent complexity of modern networks. In its current form, Goverlan Reach harnesses these advancements to offer a wide range of additional features that make remote support more effective and efficient for IT teams. For the end user this means improving the support experience, enabling personalization and allowing people to have more choice of devices and software, it also empowers the ability for staff to work remotely.

A detailed look at what Goverlan Reach offers

As mentioned above Goverlan Reach is based around three main feature sets – Enterprise Remote Control; Background Systems Management; and IT Process Automation –  so let have a look at those in more detail.

1. Enterprise-Level Remote Control and collaboration


Goverlan’s Remote Control offers support for Windows, Mac OS and Linux, which ensures technicians can access a wide array of devices. It is perfectly suited for unattended access management, privilege access of external machines, and session shadowing. It also features a series of powerful remedial and collaborative tools, including: 

  • A Multi-Machine Screen Monitor, which allows a technician to view multiple systems at once and detect issues, including undesired activities.
  • Advanced sharing functions that mean technicians can share screenshots, capture videos and invite other technicians to join a session. This is great for solving complex technical issues that can’t be fixed in the background.
  • The same tools that are readily available for Background IT Management are also available during a remote control session. This includes the Remote Task Manager, Remote CMD prompt, File Manager, Power & User Control Manager, and a service to push maintenance notifications to users.

2. Behind-the-scenes Support with Background Systems Management Tools and Real-time Engine


Goverlan Reach gives support technicians the ability to access a machine in the background. This means that the majority of IT service desk tickets – such as resetting a password, unlocking an account, installing a driver or device, adding a printer, troubleshooting a slow computer, deploying a patch, installing or repairing software – can all be remediated without interrupting the end-user.

On top of this, Goverlan’s fastConnect feature allows support technicians to detect which workstation a user is logged-in on. This means that getting access to the user’s device is much simpler as techs don’t need to know the computer name or IP address beforehand.

3. IT Process Automation
Goverlan Reach also features the company’s IT Process Automation (ITPA) module which enables a wide range of tasks to be executed automatically without support technicians having to be involved at all. It can be used to automatically reset expired password, update patches and automate new employee provisioning. It can also help with basic performance issues, such as scanning for a remediating devise with low disk space. Another application is the detection of a misconfiguration, a missing patch, or a suspicious or prohibited activity such as the installation of a blacklisted application. This means that the company’s IT infrastructure can be easily kept clean, free of human errors and up-to-date, significantly reducing the risks of security incidents. 

Developments in user interface technology mean that creating scripts to execute these workflows no longer has to be done using advanced scripting languages, such as Powershell. Instead, technicians can use drag and drop functionality to create the scripts and then store them in libraries for future use.

A final benefit of ITPA is that you can create reports to analyze things such as who has privileged access, who is accessing folders with sensitive data, inactive users or accounts, recently modified computers or users and much more. This is a powerful function when it comes to working towards compliance audits.

Setting up Goverlan Reach

Goverlan Reach is an on-premises software-based application that doesn’t need any dedicated hardware or pre-configuration on your infrastructure. The solution doesn’t require a server to be set up – the console can just be just be loaded onto a local computer. However, installing it on a server does provide some additional functionality.

The setup process is relatively quick, and should take you no more than an hour. It’s important to remember that while it’s possible to manage non-domain computers, it’s easier to get started on a domain-joined Windows machine. Once you’ve got your 30-day free trial license setup, the download and install process is straightforward. Start by working through the Goverlan console installer on a client computer and then do the same for the server component. Just be sure on the server side that you configured a service account otherwise the server will not start up.

Once the console and server are setup, you’ll need to deploy some agents. The agents are passive and lightweight, and require a two-step process – discovery and installation. Once the discovery has run, you can then push the agent to the machines via a simple “point and shoot” process. If you forget to install an agent on a machine, it will optionally prompt you and then install the agent.

Pricing and availability

Goverlan Reach is available in three different editions: Pro, Standard, and Enterprise. When it comes to pricing, Goverlan Reach is licensed on a per tech basis starting at $29 per month and comes with unlimited endpoints. It is well-priced in comparison to its competitors, and costs on average 50% to 80% less than the top players. You can also take advantage of a free 30 day trial. 

Pros:

  • All-in-One tool for all your remote IT management and support needs
  • Instant connection to both attended and unattended machines
  • Citrix and Microsoft LAPS compatible
  • A simple user interface which is easy to navigate
  • Can be rebranded to your preferences
  • No specialized hardware needed
  • Active Directory Management tools not available in other software
  • IT Process Automation with no scripting required
  • Pricing includes Unlimited Internal and external endpoints
  • Integration with ticketing systems such as Freshdesk, Servicenow, Jira, and Zendesk


Cons:

  • Goverlan Reach as a cloud-based solution is not yet available
  • No app version of the software available for download on the app stores
  • Background Systems management features primarily cater to Windows devices

To learn more about Goverlan Reach visit www.goverlan.com.